


Turn When You Cannot See The Truth Here Inside of Me

by thequidditchpitch_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Explicit Language, Ficlet, Friendship, Harry Potter Next Generation, Heroes to Villains, Hogwarts Era, Marauders' Era, Post-Hogwarts, Second War with Voldemort, The Quidditch Pitch: From Diagon Alley to Hogwarts, The Quidditch Pitch: Going Under, The Quidditch Pitch: Leaving Feast, The Quidditch Pitch: School Days
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-02
Updated: 2010-11-02
Packaged: 2018-10-26 15:51:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10789782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thequidditchpitch_archivist/pseuds/thequidditchpitch_archivist
Summary: The Mirror of Erised shows not your face, but your heart’s desire. Over the years, many people have found themselves staring into the glass.





	Turn When You Cannot See The Truth Here Inside of Me

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Annie, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [The Quidditch Pitch](http://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Quidditch_Pitch), which went offline in 2015 when the hosting expired, at a time I was not able to renew it. I contacted Open Doors, hoping to preserve the archive using an old backup, and began importing these works as an Open Doors-approved project in April 2017. Open Doors e-mailed all authors about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact us using the e-mail address on [The Quidditch Pitch collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/thequidditchpitch/profile).
> 
>  **Author's notes:** A series of five double drabbles, ranging from Marauders-era through to post-series (the final scene takes place between the end of the main story and the epilogue). I have no idea where this came from; mostly a desire to write for this fandom again, I think. Title is from Kane.

**~*~ _Bellatrix Black, January 1967_ ~*~**

  
Bella is on her way back from a... meeting, you could call it, with Rudy on the seventh floor when she takes a wrong turn. To be fair, she’s not paying much attention to her surroundings, so it takes her a moment to realise the shortcut she thought she was taking wasn’t actually a shortcut at all, but the entrance to a large, cold room, empty save for a strange, ornately-framed mirror.  
  
She steps in front of it, thinking to make sure she looks as though she’s spent a respectable evening in the library, but she quickly realises that this isn’t a normal mirror. Instead of herself in her school robes, she sees an older version of herself striding around an office barking orders. She’s dictating a missive exalting the rights of pure-blood witches and wizards – as she watches, the real Bellatrix realises with shock that she is _Minister for Magic_ in this mirror.  
  
She sinks down to the floor, her eyes alight with plans and ambition. She watches her future self – what else would this mirror show? – make the wizarding world better for pure-bloods, people like her family; the families who deserve to be raised above all others.

  
  
**~*~ _Lily Evans, April 1978_ ~*~**

  
One wrong turn, that’s all it takes. Left instead of right – even though she’s been at Hogwarts almost seven years – and Lily finds herself in a room she’s never seen before. She knows she should turn back, make her way back to Gryffindor tower before curfew; instead, she finds herself stepping towards the object in the center of the room. It’s a mirror, Lily realises. She barely registers the letters carved into the ornate gold frame, her eyes transfixed on the scene in front of her.  
  
It’s her, but it’s not a reflection; this Lily is a year or two older, a stunning white dress draping her frame. A wedding dress, she realises with a jolt, but this isn’t the moment of her vows. A slight blonde figure in what looks like a bridesmaid’s dress is clinging to her, the two of them crying. There’s a man behind them, blurry and indistinct, but his fingers skim Lily’s waist as he smiles fondly at their embrace.  
  
“Tuney,” she whispers, her fingers reaching out to touch her sister in the mirror. Her tears are streaming unchecked down her cheeks as she watches a scene unfold she knows will never happen in reality. 

  
  
**~*~ _Sirius Black, February 1994_ ~*~**

  
In retrospect, breaking into Hogwarts is not the most intelligent idea Sirius has ever had.  
  
It seemed like a good idea at the time – turn into the dog, slip past the dementors, sneak into the castle via one of the passageways, find Pettigrew, and tear the little bastard apart, limb from tiny limb. What he’d failed to consider, though, was that he hasn’t set foot in Hogwarts in over fifteen years – not since he was a seventh-year himself – which could explain how he took a wrong turn or two on the way to Gryffindor tower. Fucking moving staircases.  
  
He should keep moving, find Peter and get out before he’s discovered, but Sirius finds himself transfixed by the mirror in front of him. He watches himself – or rather, the him of thirteen years ago – telling James and Lily that they’re right, he should be their secret-keeper. Lily nods and smiles from the couch as she burps Harry; James claps him on the shoulder, his usual cocky grin on his face.  
  
“You-Know-Who can’t touch my family with you looking out for us,” James declares. Sirius swallows hard, losing himself for a moment in the might-have-beens. So many things could have been different.

  
  
**~*~ _Severus Snape, June 1997_ ~*~**

  
Severus comes to sit before this mirror once or twice a year; he has done so as long as he’s been a professor at Hogwarts, despite Albus’ well-intentioned warnings to the contrary. He understands the headmaster’s concerns, but doesn’t share them. He knows the mirror contains impossible dreams; still, once a year, he indulges in the life he could have had.  
  
Lily cradles a child in her arms, a boy the spitting image of her but for his soft grey eyes. Severus – a younger, softer Severus – stands behind them both. Lily, his Lily, leans into him as she gazes down at their child, a tender smile on her face.  
  
“Would you like to go see your Dad?” she asks the baby in her arms. Her voice is high-pitched and sweet, and it makes Severus ache as his doppelgänger reaches out for the child – _his_ child – and cradles the baby tenderly in his arms. He strokes a finger along the baby’s cheek, smiling when the boy grasps his father’s finger.  
  
Severus’ chest is tight as he watches the domestic scene unfold. In a few hours, Dumbledore will return; this may be the last chance to dwell on what could have been.

  
  
**~*~ _Teddy Lupin, November 2010_ ~*~**

  
He’s only been at Hogwarts for a couple of months, so Teddy thinks he can be excused for not knowing all the twists and turns of the castle just yet. He could have sworn he took the right corridor after leaving the library, but he’s pretty sure he’s never set foot in this room before. He knows he should get back to the common room, but he finds himself walking further into the room instead. His footsteps bounce off the walls, echoing resoundingly in the empty room.  
  
Almost empty, Teddy amends as he spots the mirror standing in the back of the room. This is no ordinary mirror, though – it doesn’t reflect the room behind him; instead, he recognises the scene as Platform 9¾. He’s standing there with the luggage he brought with him at the beginning of the year and standing behind him is his _parents_.  
  
The realisation hits Teddy like a punch to the stomach. He tears his gaze away from his mother, struggling to hold back her tears, to stare instead at his father.  
  
“I’m proud of you, Teddy,” Remus murmurs, staring out of the mirror and into his son’s eyes. Teddy can only nod in response.


End file.
